Why bacterial toxins are 'fascinating machines of death'

The coronavirus pandemic is a daily reminder of the consequences brought by a successful invasion of human cells by a pathogen. As new research on bacterial toxins shows, it does not take much for these encounters to turn ...

What makes a giant jellyfish's sting deadly

With summer on the way, and some beaches reopening after COVID-19 shutdowns, people will be taking to the ocean to cool off on a hot day. But those unlucky enough to encounter the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (also ...

Researchers use snake venom to solve structure of muscle protein

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered the detailed shape of a key protein involved in muscle contraction. The report, published today in Neuron, may lead to improved understanding of muscle-weakening ...

Protein injections in medicine

Pathogens can use a range of toxins to damage their host organism. Bacteria, such as those responsible for causing the deadly Plague, use a special injection mechanism to deliver their poisonous contents into the host cell. ...

Toxin-spewing bacteria decoded

Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a central regulator of toxin production in the bacterium C. difficile, the most common cause of healthcare-associated infections in the United States. C. difficile ...

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